Alchemy

“Alchemist” redirects here. For other uses, see Alchemist(disambiguation) and Alchemy (disambiguation).Alchemy is an influential tradition whose practitioners

The Emerald Tablet, a key text of Western Alchemy, in a 17th-century edition.

have, from antiquity, claimed it to be the precursor to pro-found powers. As described by Paul-Jacques Malouin inThe Encyclopedia of Diderot, it is the chemistry of thesubtlest kind which allows one to observe extraordinarychemical operations at a more rapid pace – operations thatrequire a long time for nature to produce.[1] Definitions ofthe objectives of alchemy are varied but historically havetypically included one or more of the following goals: thecreation of the fabled philosopher’s stone; the ability totransmute base metals into the noble metals (gold or sil-ver); and development of an elixir of life, which wouldconfer youth and longevity.

Though alchemy played a significant role in the develop-ment of early modern science,[2] it differs significantlyfrom modern science in its inclusion of Hermetic princi-ples and practices related to mythology, magic, religion,and spirituality. It is recognized as a protoscience thatcontributed to the development of modern chemistry andmedicine. Alchemists developed a structure of basic lab-oratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimen-tal method, some of which are still in use today. However,alchemists predated modern foundations of chemistry,such as scientific skepticism, atomic theory, the modernunderstanding of a chemical element and a chemical sub-stance, the periodic table and conservation of mass andstoichiometry. Instead, they believed in four elements,and cryptic symbolism and mysticism was an integral partof alchemical work.

1 Overview

The ostensible goals of alchemy are often given as thetransmutation of common metals into gold (known aschrysopoeia), the creation of a panacea, and the discov-ery of a universal solvent.[3] However, these only highlightcertain aspects of alchemy. Alchemists have historicallyrewritten and evolved their explanation of alchemy, so itis difficult to define it simply.[4] H.J. Sheppard gives thefollowing as a comprehensive summary:

Alchemy is the art of liberating parts of theCosmos from temporal existence and achiev-ing perfection which, for metals is gold, and forman, longevity, then immortality and, finally,redemption. Material perfection was soughtthrough the action of a preparation (Philoso-pher’s Stone for metals; Elixir of Life for hu-mans), while spiritual ennoblement resultedfrom some form of inner revelation or other en-lightenment (Gnosis, for example, in Hellenis-tic and western practices).[5]

Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split intoan examination of its exoteric practical applications andits esoteric aspects. The former is pursued by historiansof the physical sciences who have examined the subjectin terms of protochemistry, medicine, and charlatanism.The latter interests psychologists, spiritual and new agecommunities, hermetic philosophers, and historians ofesotericism.[6] The subject has also made an ongoingimpact on literature and the arts. Despite the modern

1

2 1 OVERVIEW

split, numerous sources stress an integration of esotericand exoteric approaches to alchemy. Holmyard, whenwriting on exoteric aspects, states that they cannot beproperly appreciated if the esoteric is not always keptin mind.[7] The prototype for this model can be foundin Bolos of Mendes's 3rd-century BCE work Physika kaiMystika ("On Physical and Mystical Matters").[8] Marie-Louise von Franz tells us the double approach of Westernalchemy was set from the start, when Greek philosophywas mixed with Egyptian and Mesopotamian technology.The technological, operative approach, which she callsextraverted, and the mystic, contemplative, psychologicalone, which she calls introverted, are not mutually exclu-sive but complementary since meditation requires prac-tice in the real world and vice versa.[9]

1.1 Relation to chemistry

Main article: History of chemistryPractical applications of alchemy produced a wide range

Scientific apparatus in the alchemist’s workshop, 1580.

of contributions to medicine and the physical sciences.The alchemist Robert Boyle[10] is credited as being the fa-ther of chemistry. Paracelsian iatrochemistry emphasizedthe medicinal application of alchemy (continued in plantalchemy, or spagyric).[11] Studies of alchemy also influ-enced Isaac Newton's theory of gravity.[12] Academic his-torical research supports that the alchemists were search-ing for a material substance using physical methods.[13]

Alchemists made contributions to the “chemical” indus-tries of the day—ore testing and refining, metalwork-ing, production of gunpowder, ink, dyes, paints, cosmet-ics, leather tanning, ceramics, glass manufacture, prepa-ration of extracts, liquors, and so on. Alchemists con-tributed distillation to Western Europe. The attempts ofalchemists to arrange information on substances, so as toclarify and anticipate the products of their chemical reac-tions, resulted in early conceptions of chemical elementsand the first rudimentary periodic tables. They learnedhow to extract metals from ores, and how to composemany types of inorganic acids and bases.

During the 17th century, practical alchemy started to dis-appear in favor of its younger offshoot chemistry,[14] asit was renamed by Robert Boyle, the “father of mod-ern chemistry”.[15] In his book, The Skeptical Chymist,Boyle attacked Paracelsus and the natural philosophy ofAristotle, which was taught at universities. However,Boyle’s biographers, in their emphasis that he laid thefoundations of modern chemistry, neglect how steadily heclung to the scholastic sciences and to alchemy, in theory,practice and doctrine.[16] The decline of alchemy contin-ued in the 18th century with the birth of modern chem-istry, which provided a more precise and reliable frame-work within a new view of the universe based on rationalmaterialism.

1.2 Relation to Hermeticism

In the eyes of a variety of esoteric and Hermetic prac-titioners, the heart of alchemy is spiritual. Transmuta-tion of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for per-sonal transmutation, purification, and perfection.[8] Thisapproach is often termed 'spiritual', 'esoteric', or 'internal'alchemy.Early alchemists, such as Zosimos of Panopolis (c. AD300), highlight the spiritual nature of the alchemicalquest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the humansoul.[17] This approach continued in the Middle Ages, asmetaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and ma-terial processes were used as metaphors for spiritual enti-ties, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation. Inthis sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formu-las’ were a blind, hiding their true spiritual philosophy.Practitioners and patrons such as Melchior Cibinensis andPope Innocent VIII existed within the ranks of the church,while Martin Luther applauded alchemy for its consis-tency with Christian teachings.[18] Both the transmutationof common metals into gold and the universal panaceasymbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, cor-ruptible, and ephemeral state toward a perfect, healthy,incorruptible, and everlasting state, so the philosopher’sstone then represented a mystic key that would make thisevolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, thetwin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to en-lightenment, and the stone represented a hidden spiritualtruth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts thatare written according to this view, the cryptic alchemicalsymbols, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemi-cal works typically contain multiple layers of meanings,allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works;and must be laboriously decoded to discover their truemeaning.In his 1766 Alchemical Catechism, Théodore Henri deTschudi denotes that the usage of the metals was a sym-bol:

Q. When the Philosophers speak of goldand silver, from which they extract their matter,

3

are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgargold and silver?A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold aredead, while those of the Philosophers are fullof life.[1]

1. ^ Théodore Henri de Tschudi. HermeticCatechism in his L'Etoile Flamboyant oula Société des Franc-Maçons consideréesous tous les aspects. 1766. (A.E. Waitetranslation as found in The Hermetic andAlchemical Writings of Paracelsus.)

During the renaissance, alchemy broke into more dis-tinct schools placing spiritual alchemists in high contrastwith those working with literal metals and chemicals.[19]

While most spiritual alchemists also incorporate elementsof exotericism, examples of a purely spiritual alchemycan be traced back as far as the 16th century, when JacobBoehme used alchemical terminology in strictly mysticalwritings.[20] Another example can be found in the workof Heinrich Khunrath (1560–1605) who viewed the pro-cess of transmutation as occurring within the alchemist’sspirit.[19]

The recent work of Lawrence M. Principe and William R.Newman, rejects the 'spiritual interpretation' of alchemy,especially as applied to medieval, 16th- and 17th-centuryalchemy, showing that it arose predominantly as a prod-uct of the Victorian occult revival.[21] There is evidence tosupport that some classical alchemical sources were adul-terated during this time to give greater weight to the spiri-tual aspects of alchemy.[22][23] Despite this, other scholarssuch as Calian and Tilton reject this view as entirely his-torically inaccurate, drawing examples of historical spir-itual alchemy from Boehme, Isaac Newton, and MichaelMaier.[24]

2 Etymology

Main article: Chemistry (etymology)

The word alchemy was borrowed from Old Frenchalquemie, alkimie, taken from Medieval Latin alchymia,and which is in turn borrowed from Arabic al-kīmiyā’( الـكيمياء) ‘philosopher’s stone’. The Arabic word isborrowed from Late Greek chēmeía (χημεία), chēmía(χημία)[25] ‘black magic’ with the agglutination of theArabic definite article al- [26].( الـ) This ancient Greekword was derived from[27] the early Greek name forEgypt, Chēmia (Χημία), based on the Egyptian name forEgypt, kēme (hieroglyphic khmi, lit. ‘black earth’, as op-posed to red desert sand).[26]

The Medieval Latin form was influenced by Greekchymeia (χυμεία) meaning ‘mixture’ and referring topharmaceutical chemistry.[28]

3 History

Kimiya-yi sa'ādat (The Alchemy of Happiness) – a text on Is-lamic philosophy and spiritual alchemy by Al-Ghazālī (1058–1111).

Alchemy covers several philosophical traditions spanningsome four millennia and three continents. These tradi-tions’ general penchant for cryptic and symbolic languagemakes it hard to trace their mutual influences and “ge-netic” relationships. One can distinguish at least threemajor strands, which appear to be largely independent,at least in their earlier stages: Chinese alchemy, cen-tered in China and its zone of cultural influence; Indianalchemy, centered on the Indian subcontinent; and West-ern alchemy, which occurred around the Mediterraneanand whose center has shifted over the millennia fromGreco-Roman Egypt, to the Islamic world, and finallymedieval Europe. Chinese alchemy was closely con-nected to Taoism and Indian alchemy with the Dharmicfaiths, whereas Western alchemy developed its own philo-sophical system that was largely independent of, but in-fluenced by, various Western religions. It is still an openquestion whether these three strands share a common ori-gin, or to what extent they influenced each other.

3.1 Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt

The start of Western alchemy may generally be tracedto Hellenistic Egypt, where the city of Alexandriawas a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained

4 3 HISTORY

Ambix, cucurbit and retort of Zosimos, from Marcelin Berthelot,Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs (3 vol., Paris, 1887–1888).

its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Ro-man periods.[29] Here, elements of technology, religion,mythology, and Hellenistic philosophy, each with theirown much longer histories, combined to form the ear-liest known records of alchemy in the West. Zosimosof Panopolis wrote the oldest known books on alchemy,while Mary the Jewess is credited as being the first non-fictitious Western alchemist. They wrote in Greek andlived in Egypt under Roman rule.Mythology – Zosimos of Panopolis asserted thatalchemy dated back to Pharaonic Egypt where it was thedomain of the priestly class, though there is little to no ev-idence for his assertion.[30] Alchemical writers used Clas-sical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythol-ogy to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemicaltransmutation.[31] These included the pantheon of godsrelated to the Classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason, andmany others.The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is HermesTrismegistus (or Thrice-Great Hermes). His name isderived from the god Thoth and his Greek counter-part Hermes. Hermes and his caduceus or serpent-staff,were among alchemy’s principal symbols. Accordingto Clement of Alexandria, he wrote what were calledthe “forty-two books of Hermes”, covering all fields ofknowledge.[32] The Hermetica of Thrice-Great Hermes isgenerally understood to form the basis for Western al-chemical philosophy and practice, called the hermeticphilosophy by its early practitioners. These writings werecollected in the first centuries of the common era.Technology – The dawn of Western alchemy is some-times associated with that of metallurgy, extending backto 3500 BCE.[33] Many writings were lost when theemperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemicalbooks[34] after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (292CE). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have

survived, most notable among them the Stockholm pa-pyrus and the Leyden papyrus X. Dating from 300 to 500CE, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artifi-cial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and man-ufacturing of imitation gold and silver.[35] These writingslack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, butdo contain the works of Bolus of Mendes (or Pseudo-Democritus), which aligned these recipes with theoreti-cal knowledge of astrology and the classical elements.[36]

Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change tookplace that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermeticart.[37]

Philosophy – Alexandria acted as a melting pot forphilosophies of Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Stoicismand Gnosticism which formed the origin of alchemy’scharacter.[36] An important example of alchemy’s rootsin Greek philosophy, originated by Empedocles and de-veloped by Aristotle, was that all things in the universewere formed from only four elements: earth, air, water,and fire. According to Aristotle, each element had asphere to which it belonged and to which it would returnif left undisturbed.[38] The four elements of the Greekwere mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantita-tive, as our modern elements are; "...True alchemy neverregarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chem-ical substances in the present-day sense of the word. Thefour elements are simply the primary, and most general,qualities by means of which the amorphous and purelyquantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself indifferentiated form.”[39] The Roman emperor Caligula issaid “to have instituted experiments for producing goldout of orpiment (arsenic sulfide).”[40] Later alchemists ex-tensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging Christianity.Lactantius believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesiedits birth. Augustine (354–430 CE) later affirmed this, butalso condemned Trismegistus for idolatry.[41] Examplesof Pagan, Christian, and Jewish alchemists can be foundduring this period.Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosi-mos are known only by pseudonyms, such as Moses,Isis, Cleopatra, Democritus, and Ostanes. Others au-thors such as Komarios, and Chymes, we only knowthrough fragments of text. After 400 CE, Greek alchem-ical writers occupied themselves solely in commentingon the works of these predecessors.[42] By the middleof the 7th century alchemy was almost an entirely mys-tical discipline.[43] It was at that time that Khalid IbnYazid sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Is-lamic world, facilitating the translation and preservationof Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.[44]

3.2 Alchemy in the Islamic world

Main article: Alchemy and chemistry in medieval IslamAfter the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchem-

3.2 Alchemy in the Islamic world 5

Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), considered the “father of chemistry",introduced a scientific and experimental approach to alchemy.

ical development moved to the Islamic World. Muchmore is known about Islamic alchemy because it was bet-ter documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings thathave come down through the years were preserved as Ara-bic translations.[45] The word alchemy itself was derivedfrom the Arabic word al-kīmiyā’ .(الكيمياء) The earlyIslamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. Platonicand Aristotelian thought, which had already been some-what appropriated into hermetical science, continued tobe assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuriesthrough Syriac translations and scholarship.In the late 8th century, Jābir ibn Hayyān (known as“Geber” in Europe) introduced a new approach toalchemy, based on scientific methodology and controlledexperimentation in the laboratory, in contrast to the an-cient Greek and Egyptian alchemists whose works wereoften allegorical and unintelligible, with very little con-cern for laboratory work.[46] Jabir is thus “considered bymany to be the father of chemistry",[47] albeit others re-serve that title for Robert Boyle or Antoine Lavoisier.The science historian, Paul Kraus, wrote:

To form an idea of the historical place ofJabir’s alchemy and to tackle the problem of itssources, it is advisable to compare it with whatremains to us of the alchemical literature in theGreek language. One knows in which miser-able state this literature reached us. Collectedby Byzantine scientists from the tenth century,the corpus of the Greek alchemists is a clusterof incoherent fragments, going back to all thetimes since the third century until the end of

the Middle Ages.The efforts of Berthelot and Ruelle to put a

little order in this mass of literature led only topoor results, and the later researchers, amongthem in particular Mrs. Hammer-Jensen, Tan-nery, Lagercrantz, von Lippmann, Reitzen-stein, Ruska, Bidez, Festugiere and others,could make clear only few points of detail ....

The study of the Greek alchemists is notvery encouraging. An even surface examina-tion of the Greek texts shows that a very smallpart only was organized according to true ex-periments of laboratory: even the supposedlytechnical writings, in the state where we findthem today, are unintelligible nonsense whichrefuses any interpretation.

It is different with Jabir’s alchemy. The rel-atively clear description of the processes andthe alchemical apparati, the methodical classi-fication of the substances, mark an experimen-tal spirit which is extremely far away from theweird and odd esotericism of the Greek texts.The theory on which Jabir supports his opera-tions is one of clearness and of an impressiveunity. More than with the other Arab authors,one notes with him a balance between theoret-ical teaching and practical teaching, betweenthe `ilm and the `amal. In vain one would seekin the Greek texts a work as systematic as thatwhich is presented, for example, in the Book ofSeventy.[46]

Jabir himself clearly recognized and proclaimed the im-portance of experimentation:

The first essential in chemistry is that thoushouldest perform practical work and conductexperiments,for he who performs not practical work normakes experiments will never attain to the leastdegree of mastery.[48]

Early Islamic chemists such as Jabir Ibn Hayyan جابر)حيان بن in Arabic, Geberus in Latin; usually rendered inEnglish as Geber), Al-Kindi (Alkindus) and Muhammadibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rasis or Rhazes in Latin) contributeda number of key chemical discoveries, such as the muri-atic (hydrochloric acid), sulfuric and nitric acids, andmore. The discovery that aqua regia, a mixture of nitricand hydrochloric acids, could dissolve the noblest metal,gold, was to fuel the imagination of alchemists for thenext millennium.Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to al-chemical hermeticism. The most influential author inthis regard was arguably Jabir. Jabir’s ultimate goal wasTakwin, the artificial creation of life in the alchemicallaboratory, up to, and including, human life. He ana-lyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic

6 3 HISTORY

qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness.[49]

According to Jabir, in each metal two of these quali-ties were interior and two were exterior. For example,lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hotand moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging thequalities of one metal, a different metal would result.[49]

By this reasoning, the search for the philosopher’s stonewas introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed anelaborate numerology whereby the root letters of a sub-stance’s name in Arabic, when treated with various trans-formations, held correspondences to the element’s physi-cal properties.The elemental system used in medieval alchemy alsooriginated with Jabir. His original system consisted ofseven elements, which included the five classical elements(aether, air, earth, fire, and water) in addition to twochemical elements representing the metals: sulphur, “thestone which burns”, which characterized the principle ofcombustibility, and mercury, which contained the ideal-ized principle of metallic properties. Shortly thereafter,this evolved into eight elements, with the Arabic conceptof the three metallic principles: sulphur giving flamma-bility or combustion, mercury giving volatility and sta-bility, and salt giving solidity.[50] The atomic theory ofcorpuscularianism, where all physical bodies possess aninner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles,also has its origins in the work of Jabir.[51]

From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theoriesfaced criticism from a variety of practical Muslimchemists, including Alkindus,[52] Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[53] Avicenna[54] and Ibn Khaldun. In partic-ular, they wrote refutations against the idea of thetransmutation of metals.

3.3 Alchemy in medieval Europe

The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe occurredon 11 February 1144, with the completion of Robert ofChester's translation of the Arabic Book of the Compo-sition of Alchemy. Although European craftsmen andtechnicians preexisted, Robert notes in his preface thatalchemy was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of hiswriting. The translation of Arabic texts concerning nu-merous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century Toledo, Spain, through contributors like Gerardof Cremona and Adelard of Bath.[55] Translations of thetime included the Turba Philosophorum, and the worksof Avicenna and al-Razi. These brought with them manynew words to the European vocabulary for which therewas no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, carboy, elixir,and athanor are examples.[56]

Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translatorsmade strides towards the reconciliation of faith and ex-perimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for theinflux of alchemical thought. Saint Anselm (1033–1109)put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were com-

Painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771.

patible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context.Peter Abelard (1079–1142) followed Anselm’s work, lay-ing down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelianthought before the first works of Aristotle had reached theWest. And later, Robert Grosseteste (1170–1253) usedAbelard’s methods of analysis and added the use of obser-vation, experimentation, and conclusions when conduct-ing scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did muchwork to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.[57]

Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemi-cal knowledge in Europe remained centered on transla-tions, and new Latin contributions were not made. Theefforts of the translators were succeeded by that of theencyclopaedists. Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon arethe most notable of these.[58] Their works explained andsummarized the newly imported alchemical knowledgein Aristotelian terms. There is little to suggest that Al-bertus Magnus (1193–1280), a Dominican, was himselfan alchemist. In his authentic works such as the Book ofMinerals, he observed and commented on the operationsand theories of alchemical authorities like Hermes andDemocritus, and unnamed alchemists of his time. Alber-tus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotleand Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation ofmetals. From the time shortly after his death through tothe 15th century, twenty-eight or more alchemical tractswere misattributed to him, a common practice giving riseto his reputation as an accomplished alchemist.[59] Like-wise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert’sstudent Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274).Roger Bacon (1214–1294) was an Oxford Franciscan

3.4 Alchemy in the Renaissance and modern age 7

who studied a wide variety of topics including optics,languages and medicine. After studying the Pseudo-Aristotelian Secretum Secretorum around 1247, he dra-matically shifted his studies towards a vision of a univer-sal science which included alchemy and astrology. Ba-con maintained that Albertus Magnus’ ignorance of thefundamentals of alchemy prevented a complete pictureof wisdom. While alchemy was not more important tohim than any of the other sciences, and he did not pro-duce symbolic allegorical works, Bacon’s contributionsadvanced alchemy’s connections to soteriology and Chris-tian theology. Bacon’s writings demonstrated an integra-tion of morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolonga-tion of life. His correspondence with Pope Clement IVhighlighted this integration, calling attention to the im-portance of alchemy to the papacy.[60] Like the Greeksbefore him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemyinto the practical and theoretical. He noted that the the-oretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the naturalphilosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The prac-tical, however, confirmed the theoretical thought experi-ment, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science andmedicine.[61]

Soon after Bacon, the influential work of Pseudo-Geber(sometimes identified as Paul of Taranto) appeared. HisSumma Perfectionis remained a staple summary of al-chemical practice and theory through the medieval andrenaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion ofpractical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercurytheory, and the unusual clarity with which they weredescribed.[62] By the end of the 13th century, alchemyhad developed into a fairly structured system of belief.Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theoriesof Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processesthat affect minerals and other substances could have aneffect on the human body (for example, if one could learnthe secret of purifying gold, one could use the techniqueto purify the human soul). They believed in the fourelements and the four qualities as described above, andthey had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideasin a labyrinth of coded jargon set with traps to misleadthe uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practiced theirart: they actively experimented with chemicals and madeobservations and theories about how the universe oper-ated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their beliefthat man’s soul was divided within himself after the fallof Adam. By purifying the two parts of man’s soul, mancould be reunited with God.[63]

In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessibleto Europeans outside the confines of Latin speakingchurchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shiftedfrom scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed so-cial commentary on the alchemists themselves.[64] Dante,Piers Plowman, and Chaucer all painted unflattering pic-tures of alchemists as thieves and liars. Pope JohnXXII's 1317 edict, Spondent quas non exhibent forbadethe false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-

alchemists.[65] In 1403, Henry IV of England banned thepractice of multiplying metals (although it was possibleto buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically,and a number were granted by Henry VI and EdwardIV[66]). These critiques and regulations centered morearound pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actualstudy of alchemy, which continued with an increasinglyChristian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian im-agery of death and resurrection employed in the alchem-ical texts of Petrus Bonus, John of Rupescissa and inworks written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnoldof Villanova.[67]

Nicolas Flamel is a well known alchemist, but a goodexample of pseudepigraphy, the practice of giving yourworks the name of someone else, usually more famous.Though the historical Flamel existed, the writings andlegends assigned to him only appeared in 1612.[68][69]

Flamel was not a religious scholar as were many of hispredecessors, and his entire interest in the subject re-volved around the pursuit of the philosopher’s stone. Hiswork spends a great deal of time describing the processesand reactions, but never actually gives the formula forcarrying out the transmutations. Most of 'his’ work wasaimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had ex-isted before him, especially as regarded the philosopher’sstone.[70]

Through the late Middle Ages (1300–1500) alchemistswere much like Flamel: they concentrated on looking forthe philosophers’ stone. Bernard Trevisan and GeorgeRipley made similar contributions in the 14th and 15thcenturies. Their cryptic allusions and symbolism led towide variations in interpretation of the art.

3.4 Alchemy in the Renaissance and mod-ern age

Further information: Renaissance magic and naturalmagicDuring the Renaissance, Hermetic and Platonic foun-

dations were restored to European alchemy. The dawnof medical, pharmaceutical, occult, and entrepreneurialbranches of alchemy followed.In the late 15th century, Marsilo Ficino translated theCorpus Hermeticum and the works of Plato into Latin.These were previously unavailable to Europeans who forthe first time had a full picture of the alchemical theorythat Bacon had declared absent. Renaissance Humanismand Renaissance Neoplatonism guided alchemists awayfrom physics to refocus on mankind as the alchemical ves-sel.Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into abroader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, as-trology, and Christian cabala.[71][72] A key figure in thisdevelopment was German Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa(1486–1535), who received his Hermetic education inItaly in the schools of the humanists. In his De Oc-

8 3 HISTORY

Page from alchemic treatise of Ramon Llull, 16th century.

culta Philosophia, he attempted to merge Kabbalah, Her-metism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spread-ing this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders ofItaly.[73][74]

Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, (Theophrastus Bombas-tus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a newform, rejecting some of Agrippa’s occultism and movingaway from chrysopoeia. Paracelsus pioneered the use ofchemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote, “Manyhave said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of goldand silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consideronly what virtue and power may lie in medicines.”[75]

His hermetical views were that sickness and health inthe body relied on the harmony of man the microcosmand Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach dif-ferent from those before him, using this analogy not inthe manner of soul-purification but in the manner that hu-mans must have certain balances of minerals in their bod-ies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemicalremedies that could cure them.[76] Paracelsian practicalalchemy, especially herbal medicine and plant remedieshas since been named spagyrics (a synonym for alchemyfrom the Greek words meaning to separate and to join to-gether, based on the Latin alchemic maxim: solve et coag-ula).[77] Iatrochemistry also refers to the pharmaceuticalapplications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus.John Dee (13 July 1527 – December, 1608) followedAgrippa’s occult tradition. Though better known for an-gel summoning, divination, and his role as astrologer,

cryptographer, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I, Dee’salchemical Monas Hieroglyphica, written in 1564 was hismost popular and influential work. His writing portrayedalchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line withthe Hermetic axiom As above so below.[78] During the17th century, a short-lived “supernatural” interpretationof alchemy became popular, including support by fellowsof the Royal Society: Robert Boyle and Elias Ashmole.Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemybelieved that the philosopher’s stone might be used tosummon and communicate with angels.[79]

“Alchemist Sędziwój" (1566–1636) by Jan Matejko, 1867.

Entrepreneurial opportunities were not uncommon forthe alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists werecontracted by the elite for practical purposes related tomining, medical services, and the production of chem-icals, medicines, metals, and gemstones.[80] Rudolf II,Holy Roman Emperor, in the late 16th century, fa-mously received and sponsored various alchemists at hiscourt in Prague, including Dee and his associate EdwardKelley. King James IV of Scotland,[81] Julius, Dukeof Brunswick-Lüneburg, Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Augustus, Elector of Saxony, Julius Echtervon Mespelbrunn, and Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel all contracted alchemists.[82] John’s son ArthurDee worked as a court physician to Michael I of Russiaand Charles I of England but also compiled the alchemi-cal book Fasciculus Chemicus.Though most of these appointments were legitimate,the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued throughthe Renaissance. Betrüger would use sleight of hand,or claims of secret knowledge to make money or se-cure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical al-chemists such as Michael Maier and Heinrich Khun-rath wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguish-ing themselves from the con artists.[83] False alchemistswere sometimes prosecuted for fraud.The terms “chemia” and “alchemia” were used as syn-onyms in the early modern period, and the differencesbetween alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying andmetallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. Therewere important overlaps between practitioners, and try-ing to classify them into alchemists, chemists and crafts-men is anachronistic. For example, Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), an alchemist better known for his astronomical

3.5 The decline of European alchemy 9

and astrological investigations, had a laboratory built athis Uraniborg observatory/research institute. MichaelSendivogius (Michał Sędziwój, 1566–1636), a Polish al-chemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer ofchemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited withdistilling oxygen in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendi-vogious taught his technique to Cornelius Drebbel who, in1621, applied this in a submarine. Isaac Newton devotedconsiderably more of his writing to the study of alchemy(see Isaac Newton’s occult studies) than he did to eitheroptics or physics. Other early modern alchemists whowere eminent in their other studies include Robert Boyle,and Jan Baptist van Helmont. Their Hermetism com-plemented rather than precluded their practical achieve-ments in medicine and science.

3.5 The decline of European alchemy

Robert Boyle

The decline of European alchemy was brought about bythe rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigor-ous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for “an-cient wisdom”. Although the seeds of these events wereplanted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flour-ished for some two hundred years, and in fact may havereached its apogee in the 18th century. As late as 1781James Price claimed to have produced a powder thatcould transmute mercury into silver or gold. Early mod-ern European alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity oftheories, practices, and purposes: “Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian, Paracelsian and anti-Paracelsian, Hermetic,Neoplatonic, mechanistic, vitalistic, and more—plus vir-tually every combination and compromise thereof.”[84]

Robert Boyle (1627–1691) pioneered the scientificmethod in chemical investigations. He assumed nothingin his experiments and compiled every piece of relevantdata. Boyle would note the place in which the experimentwas carried out, the wind characteristics, the position ofthe Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just incase they proved to be relevant.[85] This approach eventu-ally led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18thand 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries ofLavoisier and John Dalton.Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction was drawn be-tween “alchemy” and “chemistry” for the first time.[21][86]

By the 1740s, “alchemy” was now restricted to the realmof gold making, leading to the popular belief that al-chemists were charlatans, and the tradition itself noth-ing more than a fraud.[84][86] In order to protect the de-veloping science of modern chemistry from the negativecensure of which alchemy was being subjected, academicwriters during the scientific Enlightenment attempted, forthe sake of survival, to separate and divorce the “new”chemistry from the “old” practices of alchemy. Thismove was mostly successful, and the consequences of thiscontinued into the 19th and 20th centuries, and even tothe present day.[87]

During the occult revival of the early 19th cen-tury, alchemy received new attention as an occultscience.[88][89] The esoteric or occultist school, whicharose during the 19th century, held (and continues tohold) the view that the substances and operations men-tioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in aspiritual sense, and it downplays the role of the alchemyas a practical tradition or protoscience.[21][90][91] This in-terpretation further forwarded the view that alchemy isan art primarily concerned with spiritual enlightenmentor illumination, as opposed to the physical manipulationof apparatus and chemicals, and claims that the obscurelanguage of the alchemical texts were an allegorical guisefor spiritual, moral or mystical processes.[91]

In the 19th-century revival of alchemy, the two most sem-inal figures were Mary Anne Atwood and Ethan AllenHitchcock, who independently published similar worksregarding spiritual alchemy. Both forwarded a com-pletely esoteric view of alchemy, as Atwood claimed:“No modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all itssurreptitious claims, has any thing in common withAlchemy.”[92][93] Atwood’s work influenced subsequentauthors of the occult revival including Eliphas Levi,Arthur Edward Waite, and Rudolf Steiner. Hitchcock, inhis Remarks Upon Alchymists (1855) attempted to makea case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim thatthe alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under amaterialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blas-phemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron CarlReichenbach, published his studies on Odic force, a con-cept with some similarities to alchemy, but his researchdid not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.[94]

10 3 HISTORY

3.6 Indian alchemy

Main article: RasayanaSee also: History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Vedas de-scribe a connection between eternal life and gold. The useof Mercury for alchemy is first documented in the 3rd -4th century CE Artha-śāstra. Buddhist texts from the 2ndto 5th centuries CE mention the transmutation of basemetals to gold. Greek alchemy may have been introducedto Ancient India through the invasions of Alexander theGreat in 325 BCE, and kingdoms that were culturally in-fluenced by the Greeks like Gandhāra, although hard ev-idence for this is lacking.[95]

The 11th-century Persian chemist and physician AbūRayhān Bīrūnī, who visited Gujarat as part of the courtof Mahmud of Ghazni, reported that they

have a science similar to alchemy whichis quite peculiar to them, which in Sanskrit iscalled Rasayāna and in Persian Rasavātam. Itmeans the art of obtaining/manipulating Rasa:nectar, mercury, and juice. This art was re-stricted to certain operations, metals, drugs,compounds, and medicines, many of whichhave mercury as their core element. Its prin-ciples restored the health of those who were illbeyond hope and gave back youth to fading oldage.

The goals of alchemy in India included the creation ofa divine body (Sanskrit divya-deham) and immortalitywhile still embodied (Sanskrit jīvan-mukti). Sanskrit al-chemical texts include much material on the manipula-tion of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized withthe semen of the god Śiva and the menstrual blood of thegoddess Devī.Some early alchemical writings seem to have their originsin the Kaula tantric schools associated to the teachings ofthe personality of Matsyendranath. Other early writingsare found in the Jaina medical treatise Kalyāṇakārakamof Ugrāditya, written in South India in the early 9thcentury.[96]

Two famous early Indian alchemical authors wereNāgārjuna Siddha and Nityanātha Siddha. NāgārjunaSiddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, Rasendraman-galam, is an example of Indian alchemy and medicine.Nityanātha Siddha wrote Rasaratnākara, also a highlyinfluential work. In Sanskrit, rasa translates to “mer-cury”, and Nāgārjuna Siddha was said to have developeda method of converting mercury into gold.[97]

Reliable scholarship on Indian alchemy has been ad-vanced in a major way by the publication of The Alchem-ical Body by David Gordon White.[98] Trustworthy schol-arship on Indian alchemy must now take the findings of

this work into account.An important modern bibliography on Indian alchemicalstudies has also been provided by David Gordon White atOxford Bibliographies Online.[99]

3.6.1 Representative works in Sanskrit

The contents of the following thirty-nine Sanskrit al-chemical treatises have been analysed in detail in G. JanMeulenbeld’s History of Indian Medical Literature.:[100]

• Ānandakanda

• Āyurvedaprakāśa

• Gorakṣasaṃhitā

• Kākacaṇḍeśvarīmatatantra

• Kākacaṇḍīśvarakalpatantra

• Kūpīpakvarasanirmāṇavijñāna

• Pāradasaṃhitā

• Rasabhaiṣajyakalpanāvijñāna

• Rasādhyāya

• Rasahṛdayatantra

• Rasajalanidhi

• Rasakāmadhenu

• Rasakaumudī

• Rasamañjarī

• Rasamitra

• Rasāmṛta

• Rasapaddhati

• Rasapradīpa

• Rasaprakāśasudhākara

• Rasarājalakṣmī

• Rasaratnadīpikā

• Rasaratnākara

• Rasaratnasamuccaya

• Rasārṇava

• Rasārṇavakalpa

• Rasasaṃketakalikā

• Rasasāra

• Rasataraṅgiṇī

3.8 Alchemy as a subject of historical research 11

• Rasāyanasāra

• Rasayogasāgara

• Rasayogaśataka

• Rasendracintāmaṇi

• Rasendracūḍāmaṇi

• Rasendramaṅgala

• Rasendrapurāṇa

• Rasendrasambhava

• Rasendrasārasaṅgraha

• Rasoddhāratantra (or Rasasaṃhitā)

• Rasopaniṣad

The discussion of these works in HIML gives a sum-mary of the contents of each work, their special features,and where possible the evidence concerning their dating.Chapter 13 of HIML, Various works on rasaśāstra andratnaśāstra (orVarious works on alchemy and gems) givesbrief details of a further 655 (six hundred and fifty-five)treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on thecontents and authorship of these works; in other casesreferences are made only to the unpublished manuscriptsof these titles.A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian al-chemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemi-cal corpus has not yet (2014) been adequately integratedinto the wider general history of alchemy.

3.7 Chinese alchemy

Main article: Chinese alchemyWhereas European alchemy eventually centered on the

transmutation of base metals into noble metals, Chinesealchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine.The philosopher’s stone of European alchemists can becompared to the Grand Elixir of Immortality sought byChinese alchemists. However, in the hermetic view,these two goals were not unconnected, and the philoso-pher’s stone was often equated with the universal panacea;therefore, the two traditions may have had more in com-mon than initially appears.Black powder may have been an important invention ofChinese alchemists. As previously stated above, Chinesealchemy was more related to medicine. It is said that theChinese invented gunpowder while trying to find a potionfor eternal life. Described in 9th-century texts and usedin fireworks in China by the 10th century, it was usedin cannons by 1290. From China, the use of gunpowderspread to Japan, the Mongols, the Muslim world, and Eu-rope. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against theHungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century.

Taoist Alchemists often use this alternate version of the Taijitu.

Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoist formsof traditional Chinese medicine, such as Acupuncture andMoxibustion, and to martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuanand Kung Fu (although some Tai Chi schools believethat their art derives from the philosophical or hygienicbranches of Taoism, not Alchemical). In fact, in theearly Song dynasty, followers of this Taoist idea (chieflythe elite and upper class) would ingest mercuric sulfide,which, though tolerable in low levels, led many to sui-cide. Thinking that this consequential death would leadto freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensu-ing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method ofalchemy in favor of external sources (the aforementionedTai Chi Chuan, mastering of the qi, etc.).

3.8 Alchemy as a subject of historical re-search

The history of alchemy has become a significant andrecognized subject of academic study.[101] As the lan-guage of the alchemists is analyzed, historians are becom-ing more aware of the intellectual connections betweenthat discipline and other facets of Western cultural his-tory, such as the evolution of science and philosophy, thesociology and psychology of the intellectual communi-ties, kabbalism, spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, and othermystic movements.[102] Institutions involved in this re-search include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton projectat Indiana University, the University of Exeter Centre forthe Study of Esotericism (EXESESO), the European So-ciety for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE), andthe University of Amsterdam's Sub-department for theHistory of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents.A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in theBibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam.Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy

12 5 MAGNUM OPUS

include 'Ambix', published by the Society for the Historyof alchemy and Chemistry, and 'Isis', published by TheHistory of Science Society.

4 Modern alchemy

Due to the complexity and obscurity of alchemical lit-erature, and the 18th-century disappearance of remain-ing alchemical practitioners into the area of chem-istry; the general understanding of alchemy has beenstrongly influenced by several distinct and radically dif-ferent interpretations.[103] Those focusing on the exoteric,such as historians of science Lawrence M. Principe andWilliam R. Newman, have interpreted the 'decknamen'(or code words) of alchemy as physical substances. Thesepractitioners have reconstructed physicochemical exper-iments that they say are described in medieval and earlymodern texts.[104]

At the opposite end of the spectrum, esoteric alchemistsinterpret these same decknamen as spiritual, religious,or psychological concepts. Today new interpretationsof alchemy are still perpetuated, sometimes merging inconcepts from New Age or radical environmentalismmovements.[105] Groups like the rosicrucians and freema-sons have a continued interest in alchemy and its symbol-ism. Since the Victorian revival of alchemy, “occultistsreinterpreted alchemy as a spiritual practice, involvingthe self-transformation of the practitioner and only in-cidentally or not at all the transformation of laboratorysubstances.”,[84] which has contributed to a merger ofmagic and alchemy in popular thought.

4.1 Alchemy in traditional medicine

Traditional medicine sometimes involves the transmuta-tion of natural substances, using pharmacological or acombination of pharmacological and spiritual techniques.In Ayurveda the samskaras are claimed to transformheavy metals and toxic herbs in a way that removes theirtoxicity. These processes are actively used to the presentday.[106]

Spagyrists of the 20th century, Albert Richard Riedeland Jean Dubuis, merged Paracelsian alchemy with oc-cultism, teaching laboratory pharmaceutical methods.The schools they founded, Les Philosophes de la NatureandThe Paracelsus Research Society, popularized modernspagyrics including the manufacture of herbal tincturesand products.[107] The courses, books, organizations, andconferences generated by their students continue to influ-ence popular applications of alchemy as a new age medic-inal practice.

4.2 Psychology

Alchemical symbolism has been used by psychologistssuch as Carl Jung, who reexamined alchemical sym-bolism and theory and presented the inner meaning ofalchemical work as a spiritual path.[108][109] Jung wasdeeply interested in the occult since his youth, partici-pating in seances, which he used as the basis for his doc-toral dissertation “On the Psychology and Pathology ofSo-Called Occult Phenomena.”[110] In 1913, Jung had al-ready adopted a “spiritualist and redemptive interpreta-tion of alchemy”, likely reflecting his interest in the occultliterature of the 19th century.[111] Jung began writing hisviews on alchemy from the 1920s and continued until theend of his life. His interpretation of Chinese alchemicaltexts in terms of his analytical psychology also served thefunction of comparing Eastern and Western alchemicalimagery and core concepts and hence its possible innersources (archetypes).[112][113][114]

Jung saw alchemy as a Western proto-psychology ded-icated to the achievement of individuation.[108][114]

In his interpretation, alchemy was the vessel bywhich Gnosticism survived its various purges into theRenaissance,[114][115] a concept also followed by otherssuch as Stephan A. Hoeller. In this sense, Jung viewedalchemy as comparable to a Yoga of the East, and moreadequate to the Western mind than Eastern religions andphilosophies. The practice of Alchemy seemed to changethe mind and spirit of the Alchemist. Conversely, sponta-neous changes on the mind of Western people undergoingany important stage in individuation seems to produce,on occasion, imagery known to Alchemy and relevant tothe person’s situation.[116] Jung did not completely rejectthe material experiments of the alchemists, but he mas-sively downplayed it, writing that the transmutation wasperformed in the mind of the alchemist. He claimed thematerial substances and procedures were only a projec-tion of the alchemists’ internal state, while the real sub-stance to be transformed was the mind itself.[117]

Marie-Louise von Franz, a disciple of Jung, continuedJung’s studies on alchemy and its psychological mean-ing. Jung’s work exercised a great influence on the main-stream perception of alchemy, his approach becoming astock element in many popular texts on the subject to thisday.[118] Modern scholars are sometimes critical of theJungian approach to alchemy as overly reflective of 19th-century occultism.[21][89][119]

5 Magnum opus

Main article: Magnum opus (alchemy)

The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a seriesof four stages represented by colors.

• nigredo, a blackening or melanosis

13

• albedo, a whitening or leucosis

• citrinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis

• rubedo, a reddening, purpling, or iosis[120]

6 Alchemy in art and entertain-ment

Main article: Alchemy in art and entertainment

Alchemy has had a long-standing relationship with art,seen both in alchemical texts and in mainstream enter-tainment. Literary alchemy appears throughout the his-tory of English literature from Shakespeare to J. K. Rowl-ing. Here, characters or plot structure follow an alchem-ical magnum opus. In the 14th century, Chaucer began atrend of alchemical satire that can still be seen in recentfantasy works like those of Terry Pratchett.Visual artists had a similar relationship with alchemy.While some of them used alchemy as a source of satire,others worked with the alchemists themselves or inte-grated alchemical thought or symbols in their work. Mu-sic was also present in the works of alchemists and contin-ues to influence popular performers. In the last hundredyears, alchemists have been portrayed in a magical andspagyric role in fantasy fiction, film, television, novels,comics and video games.

7 See also• Alchemy in art and entertainment

• Biological transmutation

• Chemistry

• Chinese alchemy

• Cupellation

• Hermes Trismegistus

• Historicism

• List of alchemists

• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience

• Magnum opus (alchemy)

• Mary the Jewess

• Nuclear transmutation

• Outline of alchemy

• Philosopher’s Stone

• Physics

• Porta Alchemica

• Scientific method

• Superseded scientific theories

• Synthesis of precious metals

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[3] Alchemy at Dictionary.com.

[4] Linden 1996, pp. 7,11

[5] Linden 1996, pp. 11

[6] For a detailed look into the problems of defining alchemy,see Linden 1996, pp. 6–36

[7] Holmyard 1957, p. 16

[8] Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. Western esoteri-cism and the science of religion. 1995. p.96

[9] von Franz 1997, p.

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[76] Debus, Allen G. and Multhauf, Robert P. (1966).Alchemy and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century. LosAngeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Uni-versity of California. pp. 6–12.

[77] Joseph Needham. Science and Civilisation in China:Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part5, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: PhysiologicalAlchemy. Cambridge University Press. P.9

[78] William Royall Newman, Anthony Grafton. Secrets ofNature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe.MIT Press, 2001. P.173.

[79] • Journal of the History of Ideas, 41, 1980, p. 293-318

• Principe & Newman 2001, pp. 399• The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchem-ical Quest, by Lawrence M. Principe, 'PrincetonUniversity Press’, 1998, pp. 188 90

[80] Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and authority in the HolyRoman Empire. p.4

[81] Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. iii,(1901), 99, 202, 206, 209, 330, 340, 341, 353, 355, 365,379, 382, 389, 409.

[82] Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and authority in the HolyRoman Empire. p.85-98

[83] Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and authority in the HolyRoman Empire. p.171

[84] Principe, Lawrence M. “Alchemy Restored.” Isis 102.2(2011): 305-12. Web.

[85] Pilkington, Roger (1959). Robert Boyle: Father of Chem-istry. London: John Murray. p. 11.

[86] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 386

[87] Principe & Newman 2001, pp. 386–7

[88] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 387

[89] Kripal & Shuck 2005, p. 27

[90] Eliade 1994, p. 49

[91] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 388

[92] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 391

[93] Rutkin 2001, p. 143

[94] Daniel Merkur. Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of MysticalVisions and Unions. SUNY Press. 1993 p.55

[95] Multhauf, Robert P. & Gilbert, Robert Andrew (2008).Alchemy. Encyclopædia Britannica (2008).

[96] Meulenbeld, G. Jan (1999–2002). History of Indian Med-ical Literature. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. pp. IIA, 151–155.

[97] See Dominik Wujastyk, “An Alchemical Ghost:The Rasaratnākara of Nāgarjuna” in Ambix 31.2(1984): 70-83. Online at http://univie.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk/Papers/152766/

[98] See bibliographical details and links at https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body

[99] DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0046

[100] Meulenbeld, G. Jan (1999–2002). History of Indian Med-ical Literature. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. pp. IIA, 581–738.

16 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[101] Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. Western esoteri-cism and the science of religion. 1995. p.viii–xvi

[102] See Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism website

[103] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 385

[104] Richard Conniff. “Alchemy May Not Have Been thePseudoscience We All Thought It Was.” SmithsonianMagazine. February 2014.

[105] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 396

[106] Junius, Manfred M; The Practical Handbook of PlantAlchemy: An Herbalist’s Guide to Preparing MedicinalEssences, Tinctures, and Elixirs; Healing Arts Press 1985

[107] Joscelyn Godwin. The Golden Thread: The Ageless Wis-dom of the Western Mystery Traditions. Quest Books,2007. p.120

[108] Jung, C. G. (1944). Psychology and Alchemy (2nd ed.1968 Collected Works Vol. 12 ISBN 0-691-01831-6).London: Routledge.

[109] Jung, C. G., & Hinkle, B. M. (1912). Psychology of theUnconscious : a study of the transformations and symbol-isms of the libido, a contribution to the history of the evo-lution of thought. London: Kegan Paul Trench Trubner.(revised in 1952 as Symbols of Transformation, CollectedWorks Vol.5 ISBN 0-691-01815-4).

[110] The Jung Cult, by Ricard Noll, Princeton University Press,1994, p144

[111] Noll. Aryan Christ. p171

[112] C.-G. Jung Preface to Richard Wilhelm's translation of theI Ching.

[113] C.-G. Jung Preface to the translation of The Secret of TheGolden Flower.

[114] Polly Young-Eisendrath, Terence Dawson. The Cam-bridge companion to Jung. Cambridge University Press.1997. p.33

[115] Jung, C. G., & Jaffe A. (1962). Memories, Dreams, Re-flections. London: Collins. This is Jung’s autobiography,recorded and edited by Aniela Jaffe, ISBN 0-679-72395-1.

[116] Jung, C. G.—Psychology and Alchemy; Symbols ofTransformation.

[117] Redemption in Alchemy, by Carl Jung, p210

[118] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 401

[119] Principe & Newman 2001, p. 418

[120] Joseph Needham. Science & Civilisation in China: Chem-istry and chemical technology. Spagyrical discovery andinvention: magisteries of gold and immortality. Cam-bridge. 1974. p.23

9 Bibliography• Calian, George (2010). Alkimia Operativa andAlkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies onthe Historiography of Alchemy. Annual of MedievalStudies at CEU.

• Eliade, Mircea (1994). The Forge and the Crucible.State University of New York Press.

• Forshaw, Peter J. “Chemistry, That Starry Science- Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology andAlchemy”. (2013) Sky and Symbol Check |url=scheme (help).

• Forshaw, Peter J. “Cabala Chymica or Chemica Ca-balistica - Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala”.(2013)Ambix, Vol. 60:4Check |url= scheme (help).

• Holmyard, Eric John (1931). Makers of Chemistry.Oxford: Clarendon Press.

• Holmyard, Eric John (1957). Alchemy. CourierDover Publications.

• Linden, Stanton J. (1996). Darke Hierogliphicks:Alchemy in English literature from Chaucer to theRestoration. University Press of Kentucky.

• Linden, Stanton J. (2003). The Alchemy Reader:from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton.Cambridge University Press.

• Newman, William R.; Principe, Lawrence M.(2002). Alchemy Tried in the Fire. University ofChicago Press.

• von Franz, Marie Louise (1997). Alchemical Ac-tive Imagination. Boston: Shambhala Publications.ISBN 0-87773-589-1.

• Kripal, Jeffrey John; Shuck, Glenn W. (July 2005).On the Edge of the Future. Indiana University Press.ISBN 978-0-253-34556-1. Retrieved 17 December2011.

• Principe, Lawrence M. (2013). The secrets ofalchemy. Chicago &London: University of ChicagoPress. ISBN 9780226682952.

• Principe, Lawrence M.; Newman, William R.(2001). “Some Problems with the Historiography ofAlchemy”. In Newman, William R.; Grafton, An-thony. Secrets of Nature, Astrology and Alchemy inModern Europe. MIT Press. pp. 385–432. ISBN978-0-262-14075-1. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

• Rutkin, H. Darrel (2001). “Celestial Offerings: As-trological Motifs in the Dedicatory Letters of Ke-pler’s Astronomia Nova and Galileo’s Sidereus Nun-cius". In Newman, William R.; Grafton, Anthony.Secrets of Nature, Astrology and Alchemy in ModernEurope. MIT Press. pp. 133–172. ISBN 978-0-262-14075-1. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

17

• Gallina, Furio (2015). Miti e storie di alchimistitra il medioevo e l'età contemporanea. Resana:mp/edizioni.

10 External links• SHAC: Society for the History of Alchemy and

Chemistry

• ESSWE: European Society for the Study of WesternEsotericism

• Association for the Study of Esotericism

• The Alchemy Website. – Adam McLean's onlinecollections and academic discussion.

• Inner Garden Alchemy Research Group: a non-profit foundation that aims to transmit the alchemi-cal tradition.

•

• Alchemy on In Our Time at the BBC. ((Peter For-shaw, Lauren Kassell and Stephen Pumfrey) listennow)

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Alchemy

• Book of Secrets: Alchemy and the European Imag-ination, 1500-2000 – A digital exhibition from theBeinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at YaleUniversity

18 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.1 Text• Alchemy Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy?oldid=685787230 Contributors: MichaelTinkler, Lee Daniel Crocker, BF, Vicki

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11.2 Images 19

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